Mayor Menino has lunch on Boylston Street

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Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino today stopped by for lunch at Solas, an Irish bar at the Lenox Hotel in Copley Square this afternoon.

“It’s real exciting to me to see all the people down there,’’ Menino said, referring to the crowds that have flowed into Copley Square and the Back Bay since law enforcement finished investigating the Boston Marathon terror bombing crime scene on Wednesday. “I had to see it for myself.”

Joining him at the hotel, located at Boylston and Exeter streets near the Boston Marathon finish line, were Daniel Donahue, managing director of the Lenox, and Sheila Dillon, director of the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development.

Donahue said that people who returned to the nightspots in the Copley and the Back Bay were generous towards bartenders and servers, many of whom lost their entire income when the area was shut down for nine days after the alleged terror attack that left three people dead and 264 injured.

Donahue also said that waitstaff and bartenders have been consciously patronizing their competitors in order to help each other recover economically.

“We all know each other,’’ Donahue said. “If last night is any indication, we will be just fine.’’

To Menino, that kind of support is one of the city’s strengths.

“We’re a big city, but we are also a small city,’’ said Menino, who used crutches and not a wheelchair to move around today. “That’s the difference in Boston.”

Menino had French onion soup; clam chowder was served to his lunch friends.

The mayor said he wants to see more cooperation as the city restarts after the terror attack.

“Helping neighbors out, that’s what this renewal is all about on Boylston Street,’’ Menino said. ”Boston is a strong city. Nobody is going to take us down.’’